I was Born for This

Zoltan had spent a good number of years travelling around Thedas as a merchant, before accepting the position as ambassador and diplomat for the dwarves in Arlathan. The job suited him, though there were times he missed the travelling.

One thing that didn’t change with his new position, he didn’t forget about all the friends and contacts he had made while travelling. In some ways he depended on them now more than ever, while Arlathan worked to once again establish itself as a proud nation of elves and misfits, it needed all the goodwill and help it could get.

One friend that Zoltan had kept in touch with was Lucien Beauvais. During the years that Lucien had been at his lowest, Zoltan had always been there for the boy, even willing to trade in stolen goods. Those days were long behind Lucien, but their friendship remained intact and as strong as ever.

Zoltan had received a note saying that Lucien had a package for Zoltan and Maeve would be delivering it. He wasn’t sure why Maeve was delivering it and not Lucien himself, but he didn’t question it. So at the appointed time, he wandered back and forth by the Eluvian for Maeve’s arrival.

Maeve was incredibly grateful to have a few hours for herself, specially knowing that Lucien likely wanted to see his friend but he had made her the favor of tasking her with delivering the package in order to have a bit of time for herself after being tasked with taking care of the child 24/7. She loved her kid but she needed a bit of time without being busy with motherly chores.

She even made a point of dressing up to look elegant and beautiful, since the past few days she had been always with home clothes without wearing anything special since everything could be stained while taking care of the child.

Once she spotted Zoltan she tried to caught his attention with a wave “My dear Zoltan” she didn’t know the dwarf a lot, only had meet him only twice or once but she knew how much he had helped her Lucien in the past and that was enough for her to list him too among her friends. “How is life treating you” she said doing a bit of small talk prior to the delivery.

Zoltan smiled as Maeve arrived, he was quite fond of the eluvian network, even if he had been suspicious of it at first, it certainly made travel between some areas much faster and more convenient.

Ah Maeve, it’s been far too long. I never imagined how busy ambassador work could actually be. I hope things are well at home? You’ve had the baby now yes? I’ve lost track of time since I last talked to Lucien, but I feel like it’s been long enough now. He said, then quickly added.

Why don’t you come with me to my office, you can sit down and rest a bit before heading back. I just got my hands on an elusive bottle of Tevinter red, the lengths I went to in order to get my hands on one were extraordinary indeed, but well worth it. Since Tevinter had magically walled itself off, there was no new Tevinter wine getting out, but he’d managed to track some down that had left just before the wall went up.

“It has been too long indeed” she said with a warm smile “A month and a half ago to be more precise, I can’t imagine how busy you must be considering how much of a crazy mess the world is at the moment” well admittedly Thedas was always a crazy mess, Maeve was starting to think that they wouldn’t leave to see absolute peace in the land.

“Oh Tevinter wine? That sounds delicious, I can’t drink a lot since I am well” she gestured at her chest, she asked Rosalie if she could drink and she advised against over indulging but that sporadically if she wasn’t to feed her kid in the following hours she could indulge in a glass of wine.

Ah the joys of motherhood, well a smidgeon of wine it shall be. Zoltan had never settled down, not that it still couldn’t happen, but between his travels, his business and his proclivities, settling down just hadn’t been in the cards. Everyone kept saying he would eventually meet the right person, but so far the closest he’d come was falling for a prostitute that ultimately broke his heart, go figure.

Ah, here we are. He opened the door to his office for Maeve and then entered himself. He motioned to a fairly comfortable chair on the opposite side of his desk, and then went behind his desk to a cabinet where he selected the bottle of Tevinter red and grabbed two glasses. Don’t mind the clutter, it is as you said been a rather crazy mess lately. the High Keeper is missing, Faelyn has stepped up in her absence, but between that and the fires that hit us a few months ago, things are on the stressful side.

“Wait until you are a father. I have it bad but Lucien doesn’t have it much easier, he’s already juggling with the university that wants asap his talented brain back even if of course due to his position they are not pressuring him much, and that without entering in the fact that I doubt I have seen my child sleep more than three hours without starting to cry.

“You should see my house, even with the staff everything is cluttered with baby stuff, your desk is fine if compared”. She said with a small smile as she sat down and tipped the wine at him with a smile “Maker, this wine is divine” she said after a sip.

“So I bring something more valuable than money from Lucien” that was her cue to say that she was bringing information, as she passed him an envelope.

Zoltan wasn’t sure if he ever be, fuck he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be, though considering his sexual history, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that he did have a kid out there somewhere and just didn’t know about it. There was little use in thinking about it though, either some day someone showed up on his doorstep claiming to be his bastard, or they didn’t, not much he could do about it really.

Well, I’d say I’m jealous, but to be honest I’m not sure if a family is in the cards for me. Not that I don’t want one per se, I just never seem to meet the right person. Though you never know, perhaps there is already someone out there running around with my eyes and wit. When the topic moved to the package, the envelope, Zoltan perked up and set his wine glass aside. He could always rely on Lucien to give him good information. Well, he could rely on Lucien for a lot more than just information, but that wasn’t really the point.

I really appreciate this. The times we live in, I just didn’t trust the usual courier to deliver it. Plus I’d much rather see your lovely face than theirs. With more and more ancient elves waking up, there’s been an uptick in interest in ancient Elvhen artefacts. Information on them is basically priceless. He explained.

“Well in that case I am sure of that they would find you, I doubt that someone with your blood wouldn’t find a way to figure out that you are their parent, your wit is too strong to not be passed if you ever have a child” said Maeve with a friendly smile.

“Of course you would, I am more charming and prettier” she said tossing her hair playfully “I spoke with an old friend of mine about the current situation, shit is really going to hit the fan isn’t it? I have to admit that I am glad of being back in Orlais.

It felt like shit was always about to hit the fan in Thedas, somewhere. If not a blight than, a war of some sorts, civil or otherwise. Then there were the threats like Corypheus fucking shit up, or a mage templar rebellion, the veil falling. Most days he just felt lucky to be alive and relatively healthy and unscathed by most of the larger events. He wasn’t sure how much longer that would be the case though, with this ancient elf posing as a god and all the unrest with the Antivan Crows.

Honestly I’m just thankful the blights are over, but sadly that doesn’t mean we’re anywhere close to being out of hot water. We’re still recovering from the fires that plagued us a couple of months ago that wreaked havoc with the crops all across Antiva, Rivain and the Free Marches. There’s this ancient elf asshole who thinks himself a god, that can’t end well. He shrugged and took a drink of his wine.

“I am not sure about what is worse. The blight is terrible, and of course a force to fear but I think that the asshole with the capacity to attempt godhood can be way more problematic” she said with a sigh. “On the bright side, talking about blights, I don’t know if the rumour mill has arrived to Antiva but a little bird told me that a Fereldan scientist is getting quite close to a possible cure” said Maeve as she looked at him. Rosalie had been a bit secretive in the beginning with her research, especially since she didn’t know if she could achieve her goals but since now she had green light to speak about it she wanted to boast about her sister in law a little.

Zoltan nodded, someone claiming godhood couldn’t be good. He’d learned a lot more about elves since moving to Arlathan, and that included Ancient Elves. It was absolutely crazy for him to think that there were actual elves around, that had just one day up and literally gone to sleep for thousands of years and woke up as if nothing had happened. He knew magic was powerful, but he didn’t realise just to what extent until he learned about the sleep that elves could go into, practically making them immortal.

I’ve heard there are quite a few of these, ancient elves claiming godhood, but so far the only one that is a threat is this Elgar’nan. Fascinating culture really, I’ve definitely learned a lot living here! He exclaimed. As Maeve commented on the blights, Zoltan tipped his head curiously as he listened. What he knew about Grey Wardens could probably fit in a thimble, but he knew enough about blights and the taint to at least have a general grasp on some things.

He knew a lot died from the taint, and that some were offered the chance to become a Grey Warden. So he knew somehow the taint had something to do with being a Grey Warden. He also knew they often recruited criminals, so it clearly wasn’t an organisation that had people beating down the doors to get into.

A cure? For the taint? Well that would certainly make life easier when going through a blight, and clearly the fuckers can’t even let us alone for fifteen years, or however long it was between the end of the Fifth Blight in Ferelden and the start of the Sixth Blights in Orlais and Ferelden. One blight in my lifetime was bad enough, two just absolutely absurd. Will this be good news for your brother as well, he’s a Grey Warden and I assume the taint has something to do with what they are, even though I don’t know the precise details. Wait, isn’t he dating a doctor? Zoltan took another sip of his wine, letting the whole taint and blight conversation ruminate in his mind.

“Well he’s the first but I wouldn’t discard others following if Elgarnan gets away with what he wants” she said with a scowl. Usually power drawned more power and she was tired of bigger forces trying to ruin Thedas over and over.

“Yes indeed hopefully this will lift a bit of the burden from the wardens shoulders; I don’t know if it’s because of his rank but I swear that each passing day my brother looks more and more tired. “Actually the doctor involved in the process is dating her. I assume that there is a selfish motivation behind her research, since my brother is her lover but I can’t blame her, maker knows that if I had her brains I would have done the very same thing in her shoes.

Zoltan nodded about Maeve’s brother, love did drive people to do crazy things. At least this crazy thing would have the benefit of helping thousands upon thousands of individuals. Imagine, getting to choose to be a Grey Warden simply because one wanted to, and not because the choices were that or death, whether because of the taint or because the person in question was a criminal sentenced to hang, the result was the same.

Well, the burden of leadership is definitely tiresome. I feel the same way about King, er, Lord Chancellor Garryn. Every time I see him, he seems more and more tired, and now that the Blights are over, many of his people want to try and return home to retake Orzammar. I don’t believe Garryn is too Keen on leaving the Free Marches, but he’s made a life for himself there in the time he’s been there. Truth be told, Zoltan imagined Garryn would be a lot happier not ruling anything, but he also felt obligated to his people, and that wasn’t something he could easily turn his back on.

“I don’t envy rulers on these trying times. I don’t know him particularly well but I hope that things go well for him” said the brunette before finishing her glass of wine.

“On another note, my dear friend I should be going. While I am having a lot of fun I think that it’s about time for me to return home. The baby is not used to be a long time apart from me and likely it will put up a fuss soon enough” said the brunette as she rose from her chair “A pleasure as always Zoltan” said Maeve with a smile.

Zoltan was enjoying his time catching up with Maeve, when it was over he was a bit sad, but understood she wouldn’t want to be away from the baby longer than necessary at this age. He rose up and walked over to bid Maeve farewell.

Yes, well, we should do something all of us one of these days. Until then, take care of yourself and Lucien and the baby. With that, she left and he went back to his desk to work on some paperwork and correspondence.